Bloomberg Wants Nearly $10 Billion From Feds For Hurricane Sandy

Governors of New York and New Jersey combine for $72 billion in requests for federal aid

As noted on Reason 24/7, Mayor Bloomberg is asking for an additional $9.8 billion dollars from the federal government for post-Sandy recovery. In a letter to New York City's congressional delegation, the third-term mayor said the city received $5.4 billion in "FEMA reimbursements" and $3.8 billion in private insurance payouts. He said there were another $4.8 billion in uninsured private losses. The total cost to city agencies was $4.5 billion. The FEMA reimbursements include 75 percent coverage for "public asset losses" and 90 percent coverage for public "uninsured clean-up costs."

Of the nearly $10 billion the mayor is seeking in extra money from the feds, $5.7 billion goes to cover "estimated net indirect losses" like lost gross product. Yet despite Hurricane Irene making its last landfall (as a tropical storm) on Coney Island in 2011, the word "disaster" doesn't appear once in the city's FY 2012 budget summary.

Many local businesses, meanwhile, are complaining about insufficient aid. More than a hundred in Brooklyn showed up to protest 30 year low interest business loans on offer from the feds. And the

New Jersey woman the president embraced on his visit to the region after the hurricane hit has since lost her marina business. She tells Fox News she regrets the photo; that the president wasn't coming through on his promise to help, despite her being offered a loan at six percent by FEMA.

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You joke, but Elon Musk’s estimated cost for putting the first several thousand colonists on Mars is $40B. I think we should get behind that. Give us $40B to do this and we’ll STFU and leave Earth to the statists.

Well, see, I was going to invite you along, but now I’m thinking it’ll just be me and several thousand chicks nerdy enough to want to go to Mars permanently. Some of them will be interested in being one of the founding members of the Biplanetary Club.

That’s what we need to do–trick them into funding Libertopia. Though I think they should all go to Mars, and we stay here. Since they and their magic government can accomplish anything by merely passing laws, terraforming Mars should be a piece of cake.

New Jersey woman the president embraced on his visit to the region after the hurricane hit has since lost her marina business. She tells Fox News she regrets the photo; that the president wasn’t coming through on his promise to help, despite her being offered a loan at six percent by FEMA.

Didn’t even get her name, did he? Once a playa, always a playa.

However, I have to give credit where due. Obama managed to nail all 3 most common lies in one shot.

I live away from the west coast because I don’t want to deal with the physical and financial costs of earthquakes. I live away from the upper midwest and plain states so that I don’t have to deal with the physical and financial costs of massive snow storms. I live away from tornado alley so that I don’t have to deal with the physical and financial costs of tornados.

AND I LIVE AWAY FROM THE EAST COAST SO THAT I DON”T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE PHYSICAL AND FINANCIAL COSTS OF FUCKING HURRICANES.

Fuck you, New York. Pay for your losses, or don’t. Personally I don’t give a shit. But stay the fuck away from my money. I have my own shit to pay for.